Research Analysis – Market Research

For my marketing project, I conducted a selection of research into the market of a celebrity news channel in order to gain an understanding of how this industry works. This research included:

Target audience

Competitor research (brand identity prism, social media analysis)

SWOTs

Questionnaire

Focus group

Target Audience

From my target audience research I have gained an understanding that to ensure I target audience effectively, I would post content that would appeal to my demographic and frequently ask my audience what content they would like to see via social media, such as through polls and comments. I would use platforms that appeal to younger audiences such as Facebook and Instagram, and I would use language that is identifiable for the audience such as chatty words and emojis. This way the audience can identify with the company, increasing the quality of the brand.

Social Media Analysis

From my social media analysis I have discovered that my competitors were successful via social media through staying consistent with their updates – both channels had platforms that were more active than others – Clevver News was consistent on Instagram, and E! News was consistent on Facebook and Twitter. These platforms had the most followers and interaction, which shows that constant activity is what brings success to their company. To ensure I match or beat my competitors in terms of success, my company will be active on social media constantly and I will also run interactive games such as polls, in order to engage and grow my audience as both companies did not feature these.

Brand Identity Prism

From my brand identity I have learnt that my competitors are tactful with their methods, for example shutting down social media pages when they’re not as successful as others and then focusing on others, and uploading consistently to stay relevant. Other commonalities are that both are colourful and both use informal and conversational language so that their audience can identify with the brand. Lastly, a commonality is that they have the same culture – stereotypical American teenage lifestyle, loud and confident. From this I have learnt that I could include these in my celebrity channel in order to be successful.

SWOT Analysis

A few key points from the SWOT analysis’s that could influence my business and help me to decide how to conduct it are make sure that all information released is fair, true, and unbiased. I have learnt that keeping my channel positive will result in little to no problems with celebrities, and overall will have a better impact than if I featured negative stories and scandals on my channel. If I include positive stories my company is less likely to get into trouble for slander with celebrities, and if the stories are nice presenters are less likely to be negative and get into trouble. In addition to this, positivity is more likely to grant the channel the strength of presenting at live events such as premieres.

Focus Group and Questionnaire

For my focus group I created a questionnaire and asked the three participants what their answer was for each question. I asked 10 questions:

What is your age group?

16-23

24-30

2. What gender are you?

Male

Female

3. What kind of information is relevant to you in the celebrity world?

4. Why would you take interest in a celebrity news channel?

5. Have you heard of/ watch any other celebrity news channels? If so, which ones?

6. What colours would you associate with a celebrity news channel?

7. What ways of advertising appeal to you most?

8. What would make a celebrity news channel stand out to you?

9. Would you be willing to pay for a celebrity news channel subscription, and if so, how much?

10. What time of day are you most likely to tune into a celebrity news channel?

For question 1, all three people were in the 16-23 group which indicates that most people who would provide answers regarding a celebrity news channel are more likely to fit into the younger demographic. This doesn’t change my perspective as my original perspective was that yes, the audience are more likely to be young. In response to this, I will make sure my channel appeals to a younger audience by keeping up with what the younger generation would find relevant.

For question 2, one person was female and the other two were male. This indicates that celebrity news channels can appeal to both male and female audiences. This does change my perspective as I originally thought that the audience for a celeb news channel would be primarily female. In response to this, I will make sure my content appeals to both genders and that I feature things that would appeal to a male audience, so stereotypically things such as sport and action film actors.

For question 3, my focus group said that the information that is relevant to them in the celebrity world is information regarding relevant scandals, positive news, promotions, tour dates, movies, and/or anything about new celebrity work. They also said that featuring the celebrity on show would be relevant to them. This does not change my perspective as this was originally also my perspective. In response to this, I will make sure my channel will feature a variety of these types of story.

For question 4, my focus group said they would take interest in a celebrity news channel if it featured all of the above features – promos, positive news, relevant scandals – and in addition to this, comedy. This does not change my perspective as I agreed with this, and in response I will make sure the channel features these factors.

For question 5, my focus group said that the other celebrity news they watch was MTV News, Top Gear (star in a reasonably priced car), and The Graham Norton Show. This shows that people of the younger demographic do watch other celeb news channels and that they have relevance in our generation. This changed my perspective slightly as I did not consider these shows, and I didn’t think my focus group already had an interest. In response to this, I will make sure my channel has similar good qualities to the qualities of these shows.

For question 6, my focus group said that the colours they associated were: blue and green, purple and pink and neon, red and blue and gold. This is a diverse selection of colour palettes, but it does indicate that people find celebrity news channels colourful and they are associated with bright colours. This partly changes my perspective as I originally thought that the main colours associated would be pink and neon colours, however people have a much broader perspective. In response to this I will make sure my channel features a multitude of bright colours.

For question 7, my focus group said that advertisement methods that appeal to them are product placement, subtle advertisement and comedy. This indicates that people of a younger demographic prefer adverts that are memorable and not too in your face with branding. This does not change my perspective as I perceive the same, and in response to this, when promoting my channel I will be subtle and use a wide variety of advertisement methods in order to gan a bigger audience.

For question 8, my focus group said that a celebrity news channel would stand out to them if it were engaging, entertaining, and asked good questions. In addition to this if the presentation wasn’t tacky, had good hosts and the chat was informal. This does not affect my perspective, and in response I will make sure my channel features these factors.

For question 9 my focus group said they would pay £2 a month, £5 a month and 10p daily for an annual subscription on the condition of frequent content. From this information we can see that the youth are willing to pay for this channel if they deem that it is worth the money. This does not change my perspective, and in order to achieve this I will make sure to keep my price within these borderlines.

For the last question, my focus group said that they would be most likely to tune into a celebrity news channel from late evening to night time, so from this information we can see that it would be most favourable to broadcast during these times. This does not change my perspective, and in response to them I will work out an average and broadcast my channel at this time.

Summary

In summary, the information I have conducted has lead to a great understanding of the celebrity news industry and the market behind it, and if I were to create this channel I would incorporate this data in order to achieve the best celebrity news channel possible.